Waist tethered ball &amp; target

ABSTRACT

The specification discloses an individual game of skill. It makes use of a support which is adjustable to different human torso sizes, a target secured to the support, a ball and a flexible band. The flexible band is secured at one extremity, to the ball and at the other extremity to the support. The target is positioned against the back of the participant. The purpose of the game is to strike the target with the ball by hip motion of the participant.

United States Patent [1 1 Gagnon [451 Feb. 4, 1975 WAIST TETHERED BALL & TARGET [22] Filed: Oct. 9, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 404,153

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,178,851 4/1965 Gage 273/D1G. 19 3,224,774 12/1965 Klotz 3,458,188 7/1969 Infante 273/DlG. 19

3,731,925 5/1973 Caldwell 273/58 C Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham Assistant Examiner-Marvin Siskind Attorney, Agent, or FirmBacon & Thomas [57] ABSTRACT The specification discloses an individual game of skill. It makes use of a support which is adjustable to different human torso sizes, a target secured to the support, a ball and a flexible band. The flexible band is secured at one extremity, to the ball and at the other extremity to the support. The target is positioned against the back of the participant. The purpose of the game is to strike the target with the ball by hip motion of the participant.

5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures WAIST TETI-IERED BALL & TARGET The present invention relates to an individual game of skill.

It essentially comprises a device made of a support means having a target secured thereto, a ball and a flexible band. The flexible band, preferably an elastic rubber band, has one extremity secured to one of the support means while the ball is secured to the other extremity of the band. Preferably the target is provided with a cavity and a strip across the cavity to engage the support means. This support means is generally in the form of a belt.

The purpose of the game is to hit the target with an elastically tethered ball by hip motion of the participant.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will be now described with reference to the appended drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the device;

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the device mounted on the waist of the participant and;

FIG. 3 is a schematic top view illustrating how the game is played.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the game is shown to be constituted by a support 1, preferably having the shape of a belt, a board or a target 3 connected to the support 1 in a manner which will be described in detail hereinafter. The game also comprises a fastener 5 which is clamped at the end 6 of the support 1, a flexible band 7 attached at the extremity 8 to the fastener 5 and at the extremity 9 to a rubber ball 10.

The support I which is illustrated as a belt is secured against the back of a human torso 11 as shown in FIG. 2. At the other end 12 of the belt I there is provided a plurality of holes 13 through which the fastener 5 is engageable, thus adjusting the belt 1 to different torso sizes.

A hollowed security disc 15 is positioned (as shown in FIG. I) to hold the ball 10 against possible slipping of the elastic band 7 through the ball 10.

As shown in FIG. 2, the target is constructed to engage the support or belt 1. For this purpose, the rear face 17 of the target 3 is formed with a central circular cavity 19 and a retaining strip 21 which extends across the cavity 19, while leaving an open passage for the belt I in the cavity 19 between the bottom thereof and the underface of the strip 21. In this manner, the belt 1 will retain the target 3 against the back of the participant, all as illustrated in FIG. 2. The strip 21 may be mounted across the cavity 19 or it may be integral with the target 3.

Preferably, the target 3 is circular and is made of semi-rigid plastic material, the belt I is 36 inches in length and 1 inch wide and is made of plastic, leather or imitation leather. At one end of the belt, there is provided round-shaped holes 13 1 inch spaced apart, and at the other end the fastener 5 is secured thereto selectively engageable into the holes 13, the fastener 5 being also used to retain the extremity 8 of the elastic band 7.

The game consists in rotating the participants body to and fro so as to make the ball 9 bounce back and forth on the target 3 attached to the belt circling the waist of the participant.

This game affords a pleasant pastime. It may yet be improved in several manners by decorating the target and the ball.

I claim:

I. A ball game comprising:

a support means adjustable to different human torso sizes and adapted to be placed around a torso;

a generally flat-faced target secured to said support means to lie generally flat against one side of the torso;

a ball and a flexible band, said flexible band being secured at one extremity to said ball, and at the other extremity to said support means at a position spaced from said target around said torso to enable said ball to strike said target by hip motion of the participant.

2. A game as claimed in claim 1, wherein said support means consists of a belt, said belt being provided, at one end, with a fastener selectively engageable into a plurality of holes provided at the other end of said belt, said other extremity of said flexible band being attached to said fastener.

3. A game as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rear face of said target is formed with a central circular cavity, a retaining strip extending across said cavity, said support means engaged in said cavity and retained therein by said retaining strip, and said target being capable of being positioned against the back of said participant.

4. A game as claimed in claim 3, wherein said strip is integral with said target.

5. A game as claimed in claim 1, wherein said flexible band is resilient. 

1. A ball game comprising: a support means adjustable to different human torso sizes and adapted to be placed around a torso; a generally flat-faced target secured to said support means to lie generally flat against one side of the torso; a ball and a flexible band, said flexible band being secured at one extremity to said ball, and at the other extremity to said support means at a position spaced from said target around said torso to enable said ball to strike said target by hip motion of the participant.
 2. A game as claimed in claim 1, wherein said support means consists of a belt, said belt being provided, at one end, with a fastener selectively engageable into a plurality of holes provided at the other end of said belt, said other extremity of said flexible band being attached to said fastener.
 3. A game as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rear face of said target is formed with a central circular cavity, a retaining strip extending across said cavity, said support means engaged in said cavity and retained therein by said retaining strip, and said target being capable of being positioned against the back of said participant.
 4. A game as claimed in claim 3, wherein said strip is integral with said target.
 5. A game as claimed in claim 1, wherein said flexible band is resilient. 